Our opinion: We're riding out the storm together

We always like it when people read our editorials, but we’re especially happy if you’re starting your Sunday morning by reading this one. Whether you're reading the printed newspaper in a well-lit, air-conditioned home, or squinting at it on your phone, we're glad you're still connected somehow. We hope we can say the same on Monday.

As this is written, late last week, storm tracks plotted by state emergency officials showed Irma, the most powerful hurricane in Atlantic history, striking South Florida and moving up through the state — probably sparing the Big Bend the full fury of its winds but likely to be bad enough.

Probably.

With visions of Hurricane Harvey’s flooding and massive destruction on the western Gulf coast fresh in their minds, Floridians surged through grocery stores and hardware shops last week to get ready for Irma. There were long lines at gas pumps and a run on bottled water, well over a week before the earliest time Irma might have hit up here.

That would indicate people were paying attention to weather warnings that were plentiful on television and online, including the Democrat’s news sites, as early as Monday. It was somewhat of a contrast to a year earlier, when a far smaller Hurricane Hermine broke Tallahassee’s 31-year run of good luck and toppled trees that took down power lines for most of a week.

Gov. Rick Scott's performance at the Emergency Operations Center and elsewhere around the state was reminiscent of Gov. Jeb Bush’s leadership when Florida had eight hurricanes in two years, 2004-05. Scott scrubbed most of his regular schedule, declared a state of emergency, suspended highway tolls and weight limits, closed state offices for Friday, activated hundreds of Florida National Guard members and was in constant contact with government officials ranging from President Trump to South Florida Water Management bosses.

Scott’s leadership was a welcome alternative to a breathtakingly irresponsible monologue by Rush Limbaugh, who opined that Irma bulletins were being hyped to advance a phony climate-change agenda. We hope none of his listeners were killed or injured, if they ignored official evacuation entreaties and tried to ride out the big blow.

Locally, Mayor Andrew Gillum, County Commission Chairman John Dailey and Sheriff Walt McNeil coordinated a cautious, well-planned response. From providing sand bags to clearing lines of communication, they showed that lessons of Hermine a year earlier were not forgotten.

Maybe the rush to stock up on emergency supplies was a bit overdone, but Tallahasseeans need not feel chagrined. The horrors of Hurricane Harvey were still in the news and satellite images of the gargantuan Irma were on everyone’s minds.

Assembling a good emergency kit — batteries, prescription refills, fuel, food, water and plans for pets and vulnerable family members — is never a waste.

The Tallahassee Democrat is also prepared, and we will be with you throughout the storm and its aftermath, with as many updates and as much information as we can get. Our paywall has been taken down, so access to all our coverage is free and unlimited for the next few days, at least. We'll also be posting regularly on Facebook and Twitter.